The Sixth Component
by MadnessJones
Summary: G1 AU: Devastator must be stopped. The Autobots figure out that the best way to do that is to kill Long Haul, and they trust Huffer and Bluestreak with the job. Things do not go as planned, however, and soon Huffer finds himself at the mercy of the Decepticons. No pairings.
1. Devastated

_Author's Notes: This story comes from a weird place. I have a tendency to make jokes about Long Haul being Devastator's crotch because, let's be honest, the idea of a Transformer turning into a pelvis in a kid's show is pretty funny! Well, that joke is pretty played out, but then I began to think about this aspect of Devastator as a serious plot point, and this story happened. This will be the first time I've ever had Long Haul as a co-star in one of my fics, and this will be the second fic to co-star Huffer. Please review to let me know what you think, and please follow this story to see where this craziness goes :)_

* * *

Chapter 1

Devastated

It had been a trap. Prowl cursed himself for not realizing sooner that this had all been a set-up. Now their leader might very well bite the dust.

The Autobots had received a call from the mayor of Los Angeles saying the Decepticons had kidnaped his daughter and would kill her if the Autobots didn't deliver 40 cubes of energon to the desert to save her. Optimus Prime told them that they would deliver 40 cubes of purple paint, grab the girl, and get her to safety before fighting back the Decepticons. Of course, nothing is ever that simple when dealing with a being as evil and calculating as Megatron.

As it turned out there was no kidnapped girl. There wasn't even a mayor! It was merely a hologram, and the Decepticons had lured them into an ambush! Megatron's main goal was obtaining the matrix of leadership; which he learned was stored in Optimus Prime's chest compartment. He fired on Optimus with a super-powered version of one of Starscream's null rays, and while the red and blue Autobot leader was paralyzed Megatron started tearing his chassis open to search for the Autobot matrix.

The other Autobots tried to get to Optimus to aid him, but the other Deceptions swarmed them like angry gadflies. The seekers flew and fired all around them. Soundwave and his cassettes cornered Hound and Trailbreaker. The Constructicons mercilessly attacked the minibots. The triple changers were pounding Ironhide and Wheeljack into scrap metal, and the Stunticons harassed the Aerialbots until both had transformed into their gestalt forms and started attacking each other!

The battle was intense, but then a battle cry rang out that put most of the Autobots into a state of alarm.

"Constructicons!" Scrapper called out, "Merge into Devastator! Stage one!"

The Constructicons all turned into their vehicle modes.

"Stage two!" Scrapper ordered.

The Constructicons all connected to each other in a fluid motion that produced the hulking green and purple form of the oldest living combiner mecha; _Devastator_.

The target of the evil giant's wrath had not changed. The minibots looked up at that monster and knew it was coming for them. Bumblebee fired at the giant's head, but at this angle he could barely hit the thing's chassis. Devastator nearly kicked Bumblebee into the next county, but Gears pushed him away just in time. Powerglide tried to swoop down to help his minibot brothers, but he was pinned in the air between Thrust and Dirge and therefore couldn't get to them.

"Whoa mech, not cool!" Beachcomber yelled up at Devastator, "Come on, let's talk this out! We don't have to fight!"

"Oh for crying out- Get the BLAM out of the way!" Warpath hollered at Beachcomber as he aimed his cannon at the behemoth.

Warpath fired off 4 shots, but it didn't even seem to phase the gestalt. Devastator aimed his oversized gun down at Warpath with the expression of one about to spray a pesky insect. Warpath dodged just in time and transformed into tank mode to fire off more shots. Gears got into position to assist Warpath, and together they fired on the joyless green giant. Devastator didn't even stop! Their attacks had no impact at all!

"This ain't working!" Brawn shouted in frustration, "We've got to do this the old fashioned way!"

Brawn then ran up to Devastator and jumped onto his left leg! Everyone was yelling for Brawn to come back, that it was too dangerous, but he wasn't listening. He knew if he could just rip out some of Devastator's plating that the next shot could do some damage. If they could just damage him enough to get him to separate into the Constructicons again…

He made it as far the hip joint before Devastator noticed him, but when he did it was the end of Brawn's plan. Devastator grabbed Brawn in his fist, and then squeezed his fist closed for all he was worth! The others could hear the grinding of metal as Brawn was crunched under Devastator's grip like a wad of paper, and saw as their friend was thrown away like used garbage!

" _Brawn_! _No_!" Bumblebee screamed desperately.

He and Beachcomber ran together to check on Brawn and bring him back to the others. His body was mangled, and he was barely recognizable as a Cybertronian, but Beachcomber could still detect a spark with his advanced scanners. It was weak, but if they could just get Brawn to Ratchet quickly he still had a chance.

"We need someone to transport Brawn to Autobot Headquarters!" Bumblebee yelled as they got close to their team, "Where's Huffer? He has a flatbed in his subspace!"

Huffer heard them from where he was, hiding behind a rock, and immediately transformed and drove out to collect Brawn. He scanned for Devastator, but the big galoot was already fighting Superion, who had come to their aid after defeating Menasor.

"About time you got here!" Gears groused, "Hurry up and get him to HQ pronto! He doesn't have long..."

Gears said that last part with uncharacteristic softness and sorrow. Huffer knew this was serious if even Gears was willing to put away the grumpy act and genuinely lament over something.

The group loaded Brawn carefully onto Huffer's flatbed, and the little orange cargo truck took off at over a hundred and fifty miles per hour!

Huffer cursed himself and everything that brought him to this planet as he drove away from the conflict. He had been hiding while his friends fought. He was a lot of things, but he normally wasn't a coward. It had been Devastator though. Huffer was deathly afraid of Devastator. That unholy science experiment had killed tens of thousands of Autobots, including some of Huffer's friends from back on Cybertron. That thing could even match Omega Supreme's power! How could a bunch of minibots stand up to something so incredibly powerful?

Still, Huffer knew he made the wrong choice when he caught a glimpse of Brawn's battered body in his rear view mirror. Brawn knew what they were facing too, but he still fought for his friends and for their future. Beachcomber wouldn't actually fight to amount to anything, but at least he had a reason not to. Beachcomber was a pacifist and didn't believe in violence. Huffer was just a coward.

* * *

The battle had not gone well. They managed to keep the matrix out of Megatron's grasp, but at a high cost. Optimus Prime was in intensive care, Wheeljack had to have part of his helm rebuilt, and Powerglide lost both his wings. Besides Optimus Prime though, the worst injuries belonged to Brawn. Ratchet had his spark and processor on life support, but he would have to rebuild the mech's entire body from scratch. There was nothing left to salvage, and they weren't even sure the brave minibot would survive.

Many mechs had visited the injured 'Bots. Brawn had his fair share of visitors, even if he didn't know they were there. While most of his visitors felt sadness and grief, Huffer felt an intense sense of guilt over not doing anything to defend his friends. He could've helped Brawn, maybe provided cover fire or a distraction, but he didn't. He did nothing, and it was eating him up inside.

/Attention Autobots,/ Prowl intoned over the public comm frequency, /there will be a meeting of all available Autobots in the conference room in one hour. Repeat, there will be a meeting of all available Autobots in the conference room in one hour. That is all./

"Well Brawn, I guess I've gotta go get ready for the stupid staff meetin'," Huffer said to the stasis-locked spark being held in a clear container, "I'll see you soon, pal. Get some rest. Well, I mean, if you _can_ rest for all these stupid beepin' noises. Don't you just hate the medbay? I do. I don't know why Gears is always here. He must be nuts. Listen...you did good out there. I mean sure, you failed miserably and probably won't make it, but at least you tried. Oh, I didn't mean that! Of course you're gonna make it! You're _Brawn_! Everybody knows how tough you are. You're not gonna get bumped off by a bunch of plows and backhoes, right? Right. Well, see ya."

Huffer then left to go to the wash racks and clean up before the conference. With his luck he was sure there would be a long line and he would be late because he had to wait in line to wash off the desert dust. Oh well, it wasn't like he could do anything about it.

* * *

Prowl sat at the end of the table in the conference room and surveyed the gathered Autobots. It was the place where Optimus Prime usually sat, and Prowl didn't like having to assume this responsibility; at least not under these circumstances. He, like everyone else, only hoped their leader would pull through.

"Gentlemechs, we face a grave danger now that Megatron knows the matrix is here on earth," Prowl said without preamble, "For vorns we have been in an arms race with the Decepticons. They build a gestalt, we build a gestalt. They build a death ray, we build a disintegration ray. They build a greater gestalt from earth vehicles, we build a greater gestalt from Cybertronian air craft. I trust you are seeing the troubling pattern with our current situation."

Sideswipe actually raised his hand at that one, and Prowl sighed before allowing him to speak.

"Um...The pattern is...They're winning?" Siodeswipe ventured uncertainly.

"Not exactly," Prowl replied, "The problem is that the Decepticons always initiate the next phase of escalation. On Cybertron they took control of our energon supply while we scavenged for their scraps. On earth they make leaps and bounds in technology while we struggle to clean up the aftermath of the ongoing conflicts. In order to defeat Megatron we must take the fight to them, and we must start with their most dangerous weapon; the gestalts."

"Whoa, hold on!" Jazz interjected, "We've already got that covered. We have Superion and Defensor on our side."

"Yes Jazz," Prowl said dryly, "Meanwhile Megatron has Devastator, Bruticus, and Menasor. Not to mention Defensor is exactly that, a _defense_. The Protectobots aren't designed for heavy combat, and First Aid is a pacifist. The Decepticons have three bloodthirsty combiners, and we have two skilled yet inexperienced combiners. This cannot go on."

"Well, what do you suggest, Prowl?" Ironhide asked.

"In order to reduce casualties on both sides, we must kill one member of a combiner team to remove the combiner from play," Prowl explained.

"That will never work!" Red Alert exclaimed caustically, "Combiners are designed to be interchangeable! If you kill a member of a gestalt, then Megatron could just have one of his other troops reformatted to fit the combiner! It's a foolish plan!"

"In most cases you are correct, Red Alert," Prowl told him, "However, I believe I have discovered an achilles heel for their senior gestalt; Devastator. You see, Shockwave built Devastator as the first ever combiner team. While the effort was solid and holds up to this day, combiners in the modern era are built differently. The biggest change to the original design is that where there used to have to be six members, modern combiners only need five. Devastator's model is obsolete, and if we kill their sixth component then they will be unable to replace him. The other five Constructicons will not have to die, Devastator will never be able to harm anyone ever again, and we will have an advantage on the battlefield. It is the soundest goal I could devise, and I have calculated 17 plans with a good chance for success."

"So all we have ta do is kill a Constructicon?" Ironhide asked for clarification.

"Not just any Constructicon," Prowl elaborated, "It must be Long Haul."

"Why Long Haul?" Bumblebee asked.

"Because according to this diagram," Prowl said as he pulled down a picture of Devastator's separated parts, "Long Haul is a lower central component. This piece is no longer used in gestalts, and therefore cannot be replaced once eliminated."

"Wait a minute!" Gears piped up, "You mean Long Haul is Devastator's crotch?"

"Yes, the _lower central component_ ," Prowl replied in clipped tones; annoyed that Gears wasn't taking this more seriously, "Assassinating Long Haul should be rather simple, actually. Long Haul is a matter transport unit, so he often has to leave the ship to deliver items from one location to the other."

"You mean he's a garbage truck!" Gears exclaimed; amused despite the oppressive atmosphere, "So just to clarify, Long Haul has no face in his robot mode, he's a dump truck in his vehicle mode, and Devastator's _junk_ in his combiner mode. Seriously, forget Long Haul! They should call this guy Stinky! He's gotta be the worst smelling 'Con on the Nemesis!"

"Yeah, and the Decepticons are trapped underwater with him in a confined space for days at a time!" Windcharger pointed out; laughing out loud.

Prowl could sense he was losing control of the room as the crowd started laughing at Gears' and Windcharger's antics. He tried to remain calm since yelling would only make things worse in this situation. He still wished they would take the potential sniping of a Decepticon more seriously than this though.

" _Ahem_!" Prowl finally coughed loudly to get the attention of the room back, and they all fell silent at his hard glare as he pressed his palms flat against the table, "Thank you. Now, I need two volunteers to go on the mission. One will serve as a distraction for Long Haul, and the other will shoot him in the spark. I want this to be clean and quick. There is no reason for Long Haul to suffer."

"Yeah, I think he's suffered enough," Gears said with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah…*snerk* Stinky!" Smokescreen snickered with all the maturity of a five vorn old.

Prowl rubbed the bridge of his nose cone and tried to put the disruptive influences out of his mind. If only he could force Gears to volunteer to be the bait…

"I volunteer to take the shot, sir," Bluestreak said resolutely.

"Are you certain you can handle this being on your conscience?" Prowl asked him somberly.

"It has to be me, Prowl," Bluestreak replied; his gaze never wavering, "I'm the best marksman we have right now, and if I shoot Long Haul he won't even know what hit him. I'll make sure to practice diligently with whatever weapon I'm given. I'll admit, I wish we didn't have to do this, but if we do have to then I don't want him to be in pain. I'll take care of it, sir."

"Very well, then," Prowl nodded, "Now as for the distraction, I believe-"

"I wanna do it!"

Everyone turned around and stared at Huffer, who had spoken, with a look that said they all thought he was glitched.

"Huffer...Are you certain you want to do this?" Prowl asked; still in shock, "I mean, it's normally not in your nature to volunteer for things."

"Are you callin' me lazy?" Huffer asked; affronted, "I'll have you know I pull my weight around here as good as anyone else!"

"I never said you didn't," Prowl replied drolly, "It just doesn't seem to be in your nature to assist us unless you are first asked to. Why would you want to go on such a dangerous mission?"

"I have to," Huffer replied firmly, "It's my duty as an Autobot to keep us and this lousy stinkin' planet safe from Decepticons. Optimus would do the same thing. So would Brawn. I'm doin' this for them."

The hard look on Huffer's normally melancholy face plate told them he was serious. Prowl, not knowing what else to do, nodded his consent to the little truck-former. The meeting was dismissed, and Huffer and Bluestreak followed Prowl out of the room to go over the details of the plan.

Huffer sighed to himself in resignation. The hardest part about this assignment was probably going to be listening to Bluestreak's inane road trip conversation. Huffer wasn't exactly the most patient mech, and Bluestreak tested his patience every time they spoke to one another since the grey and red Praxian never seemed to shut up.

He also thought about Brawn's critical condition. Huffer choked under pressure, and it cost his teammates dearly. By facing Long Haul, he was in a sense facing Devastator. He would not fail again.


	2. The Ambush

_Author's Notes: I'm not entirely sure where this story is going, but until I figure it out I'm going to enjoy the ride. Hopefully you guys like this chapter. It's shorter than I thought it would be, but I think I managed to cover everything I wanted to cover. While G1 is usually the era I write in anyway, I think this story really has the G1 feel to it, in a good way of course. Please review to let me know what you think, and follow the story to keep up with updates :)_

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Chapter 2

The Ambush

The Constructicons were sitting around a large table in the mess hall drinking their morning energon and chatting. It was the first of the orn, which meant everyone got their new assignments today. Not every Constructicon was looking forward to the next work orn.

"I've been ordered to increase efficiency in Megatron's fusion cannon," Hook said as he swished the liquid in his half-empty cube, "That isn't going to be easy. He's asking me to improve perfection. I don't know what I'm going to do about that."

"Just fiddle with it, put it back together exactly the way it was before, and tell him you improved it. Problem solved," Scrapper said with a satisfied and smug look on his face plate.

"Sounds to me like you've done this before," Hook observed wryly.

"Hey, you don't get a spotless reputation like mine by only working miracles once," Scrapper replied jovially, "This orn I'll be working my magic on that new fortress job near the outer edges of Autobot territory."

"Hey, that's where I'm go-go-going!" Mixmaster exclaimed, "We'll get to work work work together!"

"Me too!" Scavenger added happily, "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!"

"Maybe for you guys," Bonecrusher groused, "I've gotta stay here and take inventory of our supplies. Empires don't build themselves. You have to have supplies to do it. Oh well, I'm sure it's better than whatever Long Haul got stuck with."

"You don't know that!" Long Haul barked, but when everyone just stared at him he relented and said "Okay, you're right. I have to deliver a shipment of energon cubes to the Combaticons' new hideout."

"I don't know why Megatron puts up with them!" Hook huffed, "They're _criminals_ , and they would destroy each other or anyone else just to get ahead."

"Yeah, those slag piles don't deserve to be a combiner unit," Scrapper added with a scowl that could be perceived even through his face mask, "Gestalts are sacred, and involve a level of commitment and intimacy that most Cybertronians will never understand. How could Starscream turn those ne'er-do-wells into a gestalt unit? Pit, Swindle actually tried to _sell_ his own teammates for spare parts!"

"Yeah, if it weren't for their gestalt bond they'd all be dead right now," Bonecrusher pointed out, "It's kinda weird that Megatron saved their lives like that."

"Yeah, he should've fin-fin-finished the job!" Mixmaster nodded sharply, "If Swindle had been tur-tur-turned into scrap, then that would be one less piece of sl-sl-slag to worry about!"

"More like _five_ less pieces of slag," Scavenger added with a mischievous look.

"You know guys, I was feeling pretty bad about this job," Long Haul told them, "But after hearing your words of encouragement and support, I feel even worse."

The others all laughed and Long Haul crossed his arms over his chassis as he pouted. He would've given the guy in charge of the duty roster a piece of his mind, but the mech in charge of that was Soundwave. Soundwave might not have been aggressive, but there was something about that guy that gave Long Haul the creeps. He sighed and decided it was easier just to deal with the Combaticons.

* * *

"Alright Bluestreak, just like I showed you!" Huffer called out for across the large hole they had dug in the middle of the desert.

Bluestreak then took a large tarp and flung it across the chasm, and Huffer grabbed it on the other side. They tied it very loosely and then threw sand over it so that it could not be seen. Bluestreak smiled in satisfaction and Huffer dusted his hands off and looked it over approvingly.

"So, um, where was I supposed to stand again?" Bluestreak asked; confused.

"I told you, just crouch down behind those boulders!" Huffer shouted for what he felt was the hundredth time, "I'll stand here, and when Long Haul sees me I'll surrender. When he gets close enough to me he'll fall into the hole, and then you throw the grenade inside. This'll be a piece of oil cake!"

"Well, if you say so, but I still feel like we forgot something," Bluestreak replied uncertainly, "Hey, what if Long Haul doesn't get close enough?"

"Oh, he will," Huffer reassured him, "Just keep your optics on the target!"

"I will!" Bluestreak promised.

When Bluestreak went behind the boulder Huffer allowed himself to sigh again and rub his helm. Bluestreak had been so chatty ever since they left the Ark, and Huffer just didn't feel like talking. He was nervous enough as it was. Of course that wouldn't have been so bad, but Bluestreak had to inevitably ask about Brawn's condition. The periwinkle and orange minibot didn't feel like thinking about that. If Brawn died, then not even the success of this mission would matter to Huffer. He would've still failed his friend.

As it turned out, Bluestreak had a right to feel worried. Long Haul normally took the main desert road to get to the space bridge, but today that wasn't where he was going, so he took a parallel road going in the opposite direction. He stopped driving when he noticed Bluestreak; clearly visible from Long Haul's vantage point.

Long Haul transformed, leaving the energon cubes on the side of the road, and took his laser gun out of subspace. He aimed carefully, and fired; hitting Bluestreak in the shoulder!

The poor Datsun fell down, but he wasn't hurt too badly. Huffer, upon seeing that his teammate was hurt, ran to assist Bluestreak. Unfortunately, Huffer had been standing right in front of the trap, so when he ran he fell through the tarp and down into the hole!

Long Haul ran to see his catch, but was distracted when he heard Huffer hollering from inside the pit. Bluestreak wasted no time and while he was distracted kicked Long Haul in the shins! The dumptruck-former slammed the butt of his gun into Bluestreak's injured shoulder, and the Autobot sniper cried out in pain and clutched his sore shoulder.

Long Haul decided to forget Bluestreak completely and see which Autobot was in the hole. He knew he should probably comm the other Constructicons, but it was only two Autobots. Surely even he could handle that!

He looked down and saw it was one of the minibots. Long Haul couldn't remember this one's name, but he did remember that this one had above average strength yet minimal weaponry. Long Haul jumped down into the pit and pointed his gun straight at the Autobot!

"Alright Auto-scum, you are now my prisoner!" Long Haul announced proudly as he kept his weapon trained on Huffer's helm right between his optics.

"Bluestreak!" Huffer shouted, "If you're still up there, throw the grenade!"

"I'm not throwing it in there with you in there," Bluestreak protested, "Let him go, Long Haul!"

"What kind of a fool do you think I am?" Long Haul asked snidely, "If I let him go you'll throw a grenade into this pit, but if I take him with me I have both a prisoner and a shield to keep me safe on the journey home. I think this Autobot and I will be on our way now, if you don't mind. Or even if you do! Ha ha ha ha!"

Long Haul cackled and hefted himself out of the pit, pulling Huffer up afterward. Poor Bluestreak didn't know what to do. He could try shooting Long Haul now, but his pistol alone wasn't powerful enough to take down the reinforced armor of a Constructicon. Besides, Huffer was still too close and might get caught in the crossfire. Bluestreak couldn't do anything except watch as their intended target forced Huffer to load energon cubes into his own truck bed.

Once Long Haul and Huffer had all the energon cubes collected, they drove off together; Long Haul's mounted weapon pointed at Huffer when they were in vehicle mode. First he would have to make his delivery to the Combaticons, and then Long Haul could present Megatron with his captured prize. Maybe then he'd finally be allowed to do something besides transport goods.

"I shoulda known this was gonna happen," Huffer muttered quietly as he drove along the lonely road with Long Haul.

Huffer only hoped that Bluestreak was smart enough to put a tracking chip on him before they drove away. That would be the only way the Autobots could get to him in time. If Huffer was forced onto the Decepticon base at the bottom of the ocean, he was sunk.

* * *

Long Haul and Huffer made it to the Combaticons' lair after 2 hours of driving. Huffer was hot and his tires felt like they were going to melt from the lonely desert road. Just once he'd like to drive through a lush spring meadow with a babbling brook or an autumn park in the evening with lots of little light posts. Today however, it was more stinking desert!

"It's _about time_ you showed up," Onslaught snapped when he saw Long Haul, "Who is that?" He pointed to Huffer.

"Didn't you hear? I joined the Autobots," Long Haul joked, "Seriously though, this is my prisoner. I found him on the way here, and he tried to get his pal to blow me up. Sadly that isn't the first time something like that has happened."

"Yeah, yeah, we didn't ask for your life story," Brawl grumbled, "Just give us the cubes already!"

"Does Megatron know about the prisoner yet?" Swindle asked intently as he eyed Huffer.

"Not yet," Long Haul told them, "I was gonna wait until I was finished with the delivery and then comm him."

"Oh, I see," Swindle nodded; a gleam in his purple optics, "You know, Megatron doesn't have to know about this. I'll give you 400 credits if you sell him to me for parts. Slag, help me take him apart and I'll up it to 450."

Huffer gulped and looked around nervously. Most of the Combaticons were ignoring this exchange, but Vortex seemed to grin maliciously at the idea of an Autobot being salvaged alive.

"You won't get nothin' for my parts!" Huffer said a little too loudly to sound natural, "My parts are common as bolts. They're worthless!"

"Is that so?" Swindle asked; unconvinced.

"Say uh, Autobot," Long Haul turned his attention to Huffer, and the minibot was afraid of whatever might be running through that Constructicon's processor, "Are you someone important to the Prime? Maybe a special ops agent or a scientist or something?"

"Not really," Huffer admitted, "I can build stuff, and I can haul stuff, but that's about it. Sometimes I can fight, but sometimes I can't. It all depends on the threat."

Long Haul was disappointed that his prisoner was a nobody, but at the same time there was something about the way Huffer described his job that made Long Haul sympathize with him. Their lot in life sounded almost identical. Even the whiny tone Huffer used to talk about himself sounded like how Long Haul felt when he was excluded from building things with the other Constructicons.

"I don't wanna sell him," Long Haul told Swindle, "I think I'd rather hand him over to Megatron. Who knows? Maybe if he's really worthless I can keep him as a slave. We Constructicons can always use the help."

Huffer sighed but didn't protest. How could this have gone so _wrong_? Huffer knew now that he wasn't getting out of this. If he lived then he would be a slave to either Megatron or his pet gestalt Devastator. If he died...He could either die in vain trying to save himself, or he could die carrying out his mission. He still had one chance to redeem himself. If he killed Long Haul while in captivity then he could stop Devastator once and for all. He could save countless lives...even if his own life wasn't one of them.


	3. Prisoner

_Author's Notes: Out of all of my current fics, this isn't the hardest one to write, but I will say it's been the most neglected. That wasn't intentional, but life gets in the way (not to mention having 14 fics to work on). A lovely review from **Cashagon** reminded me of this story, and as silly as it sounds just hearing someone say they thought this story was good was enough to make me want to work on it again. So, I've finally got Chapter 3 up, and hopefully I can make more time for the rest of this fic. Please enjoy this chapter of The Sixth Component :)_

* * *

Chapter 3

Prisoner

Long Haul had to carry Huffer over the ocean. Long Haul had the anti-gravity installed that was typical of all Decepticons, but Huffer was just a heavy minibot that couldn't fly. _Very_ heavy, Long Haul was figuring out.

Huffer became more despondent with each passing moment. He knew he could still kill Long Haul, but the chances of that were getting slimmer with every moment spent with the dump truck-former. He knew he was probably going to die. To be fair, he had felt that way ever since they landed on earth. Some of the humans were okay, but the planet itself was a dump. Hm, a dump...a fitting place to be killed by a dump truck.

The purple spire of the Nemesis rose from the ocean with a splash of water glistening off of the hull in the bright sunlight. _It shouldn't be beautiful,_ Huffer thought to himself. Doom shouldn't be beautiful. Not even for a moment. Yet it looked so much like Cybertronian tech that Huffer couldn't help but admire its minimalist beauty.

Long Haul comm'ed that he was back and that he brought a prisoner. Reflector, the mech in charge of the door at that moment, couldn't believe it. Long Haul was just the loader. He never did anything important beyond combining into Devastator! Reflector had to see this for himself.

Long Haul came through the door, and Reflector called his two brothers to see the newest arrival. They were surprised to find that it wasn't a prank; that Long Haul actually had an Autobot in his clutches. To be fair, it wasn't a great Autobot, but it was still something. Kind of like catching a snapping turtle when you were searching for a bass. Unexpected, unwanted, but still difficult.

"Reflector, get me some stasis cuffs for the prisoner," Long Haul ordered as soon as he got close enough, "We want our _guest_ to look presentable for Megatron."

Huffer groaned at the smug tone Long Haul used. This was so humiliating! He was defeated and captured by an overgrown speedo!

One of the Reflectors came back with handcuffs for the Autobot, and Long Haul relished putting them on Huffer. He couldn't put them behind Huffer's back because of that orange hardtop that took up way too much room, but it still had the desired effect of demoralizing the enemy. Long Haul had never actually caught anyone before today. He'd also never personally killed an Autobot before, but nobody needed to know that. As long as he was part of Devastator, his kill record was in the thousands. Just because he didn't do any of that alone meant nothing...at least that was what he told himself.

Long Haul pushed Huffer hard toward the hallway with his gun trained on the whiny Autobot, and Huffer reluctantly started walking in front of Long Haul. The halls in this part of the ship were dark. Electricity went out long ago, and they didn't have the means to fix it since Megatron gave the lights such a low priority in comparison to the life support system and the weapons. No matter the reason, Huffer found it spooky. Like he was inside a living tomb.

Several minutes (and a few lit hallways later) Long Haul and Huffer made it to the command center. Megatron was sitting on his throne waiting for Long Haul, Frenzy was mopping up purple energon stains, Soundwave was monitoring the ship as usual, and Starscream was holding his injured arm (the source of the stains). Long Haul could tell that Megatron had just beaten Starscream. Well, it was the seeker's own fault for trying so hard to be noticed. Nobody noticed Long Haul, and nobody beat him up. Sometimes it was good to be invisible.

"Ah, I see the communications chatter is true," Megatron said with a pleased look on his face plate, "You have actually captured an Autobot."

Huffer could see the feral and eager looks he was getting from the Decepticons. They wanted to kill him right then and there. His life wasn't worth slag at the moment, but if he died he would never complete his mission. No matter what, he had to stop that monster Devastator from hurting anyone ever again. He had to buy more time so he could do what he set out to do!

"What should we do with him, Lord Megatron?" Long Haul asked his leader.

Megatron stood up to pronounce his sentence on the Autobot, but before he could Huffer said something that left the entire room stunned.

"I wanna join the Decepticons!" Huffer shouted quickly before Megatron could speak.

"... ... ...What?" Megatron finally said after a long moment of deafening silence on the bridge.

"I wanna join your side, Megatron," Huffer repeated eagerly; though inwardly it left a bad taste in his glossa, "I'm sick of Optimus Prime! He's too soft, and he, uh, plays favorites! Yeah, he hates me because I'm not nice to his _precious_ humans! I couldn't take it anymore, so I ran away, but, uh, Bluestreak found me and was tryin' to take me back to base! I'm actually glad you guys found me so I can join your side. So, can I be a Decepticon? I promise to work hard and obey your orders."

Huffer hoped his acting was good enough to convince the Decepticon warlord to spare him. He didn't need to live through this experience. He just needed to live long enough to find a powerful weapon and shoot Long Haul. Once he did that they could do whatever they wanted with him.

"I don't trust you, Autobot," Megatron replied; his optics narrowed on the minibot, "You would say anything to save your own spark. However, I haven't decided what form of punishment would be most appropriate. Until I have decided what to do with you, you will be locked in the brig. Long Haul, since you caught him, you get the honor of guarding our prisoner. Take him away!"

"Aw, I gotta get stuck on guard duty?" Long Haul whined, "That's so boring! It's worse than carrying stuff around all day!"

"I can put you in the cell with him..." Megatron pointed out with a dangerous edge to his voice.

"Never mind! Guard duty's fine!" Long Haul quickly rescinded his previous statement, "Come on, Autobot! Let's go find you a cold dark cell."

Huffer was pushed again and nearly fell over at Megatron feet. The silver gun-former smirked wickedly at the minibot's humiliation. Huffer scowled in return at Megatron even though he knew it would ruin his chances at convincing him to let him out. It was too late for that anyway. He had already failed.

* * *

Huffer stewed in the prison cell; sitting on the hard berth and scowling at Long Haul, who was ignoring him by reading a data pad. Huffer's hands were still cuffed, and his spirits were as low as they had been in a while; which was saying something considering it was Huffer.

"Your ship stinks!" Huffer groused, "Your tech is abysmal, and the design of the ship is far too basic. It looks like a tinker toy!"

"What's a tinker toy?" Long Haul finally asked when Huffer's whining became impossible to ignore.

"It's a human thing," Huffer shrugged.

"You know, my gestalt and I weren't around when this ship was built," Long Haul pointed out, "If we were it would've looked way better! Of course, anything looks good compared to Blitzwing."

"Blitzwing?" Huffer asked in confusion, "What does he have to do with anything?"

"You don't know how we got here, do you?" Long Haul asked with a wry smile, "Well you see, my brothers and I stayed behind on Cybertron when Megatron took off after you Autobots, and for 4 million years we helped Shockwave keep everything exactly the same as it was the way Megatron told him to. I tell you what, that purple Cyclops has a real obsessive compulsion issue. Not to mention how often he talks about Megatron. Seriously, you'd think he was the president of Megatron's fan club! I remember one time-"

Huffer just gave Long Haul a flat stare, and the Constructicon could almost feel Huffer screaming 'get to the point!'.

"Ahem, anyway, when we got the call 4 million years later to join Megatron's forces, the space bridge was down so we couldn't just transport to where we needed to go. Shockwave, in his _infinite wisdom_ , decided we should ride inside a triple changer. Now, Astrotrain was already gone, so we got stuck riding in Blitzwing's cargo hold! _Blitzwing_! Do you know how _small_ he is on the inside!?"

"Not really," Huffer replied.

"There are six of us!" Long Haul shouted in frustration, "Shockwave actually had to take us apart just so we could all fit! Then when we got here because there was no medic it was up to Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave to put us back together! Hook and Scrapper were lucky to get Megatron to repair them, and Mixmaster and Bonecrusher were lucky to get Soundwave to repair them, but Scavenger and I got stuck with Starscream!"

"So? Ain't he the only one that has any actual scientific expertise?" Huffer asked uncomprehendingly.

"You don't get it," Long Haul replied as the painful memory resurfaced, "Soundwave has built 6 minicons, so he's an old pro at how to build and maintain a Cybertronian body. Megatron is used to self-repairs due to his previous jobs as miner and gladiator, so he knows how to turn off pain receptors. Starscream, on the other hand, had no practical experience with building or maintaining, and he couldn't give a slag if Scavenger and I were comfortable or not! It was torture, and we were still conscious! He actually put my helm on _backwards_ the first time!"

"Ouch!" Huffer exclaimed sympathetically, "Sounds like a real piece of work."

"Yeah, and let's not forget Omega Supreme was still on our afterburners!" Long Haul groused, "I hate that guy so much! Oh, and he's another one that doesn't know slag about surgery! Don't ask me how I know that..."

"Yeah, well I've been on earth since the beginnin'," Huffer told Long Haul, "I thought it was just a minor stop until we got a new ship built, but we haven't even had time to try to build a new ship! We're stuck here, and more and more Autobots are comin' every day! I get the feelin' we're movin' here, permanently. I just wanna go home. I hate this planet. It's keepin' me from Cybertron, and I miss it more than anythin'."

"Oh yeah? What do you have left to go back to that's got you so fired up?" Long Haul asked curiously.

"Nothin', but it's home," Huffer replied simply, "No matter what earth offers me, it ain't home."

"Too true," Long Haul shook his helm even though he agreed with Huffer's statement, "Listen, I'm not supposed to feed you, but if you really want some energon I might be able to get you something," Long Haul offered.

"Nah, that's okay. No sense gettin' in trouble just because of me," Huffer replied; his voice filled with melancholy, "I'm not worth it."

Long Haul didn't know what else to say to the despondent minibot, so he went back to reading what was on his data pad; a downloaded issue of Popular Mechanics. He knew human automobiles and aircraft were mundane and inferior, but seeing some of those vehicles without their hoods was Long Haul's current guilty pleasure. Of course if anyone asked him he would just turn off the device and say he was reading it for the articles.


	4. Get To Work

_Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Well, we've got another chapter of The Sixth Component, and after writing this I've come to the conclusion that if Huffer was real he would hate me. Seriously, I don't know why I keep torturing this Autobot. I actually like this character and even consider him a favorite. Top fifteen anyway (out of hundreds that isn't bad). Speaking of which, I just finished sewing the body of the very first plush toy I've ever attempted to make (finally), which oddly enough is a little sky blue version of Huffer. Once I finish his orange hood he'll be finished, and I'll post a few pics on my Deviantart page. Anyway, now I'm just rambling. Sorry ^_^'_

 _Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter of The Sixth Component :)_

* * *

Chapter 4

Get To Work

Huffer had trouble recharging on that hard cot in his cell. Aside from the typical tossing and turning he also had thoughts about Brawn and his team. Were they coming to rescue him? Would they make it in time? Was Brawn alive or dead? He also wondered what Megatron planned to do with him. Would he be tortured? Would he be executed? He didn't want to die on a Decepticon ship under earth's salty water! He wanted to die on Cybertron after a long drawn-out illness! Yes, Huffer had thought this through in advance.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he saw Long Haul come through the door holding a long strip of wire that was designed to connect to Huffer's stasis cuffs. That meant he was going somewhere, and Huffer didn't like any of the places the Decepticons would want to take him.

Long Haul deactivated the force field and walked right into the cell. Huffer thought about making a break for it. There wasn't even a guard, and Long Haul didn't have a gun. It would be easy to run right past him. Then again, Huffer wasn't very fast, and the Decepticons would just catch him since he couldn't swim.

"I hope you got your beauty sleep, Autobot," Long Haul drawled as he connected the wire to the stasis cuffs, "Because you're gonna have a long day ahead of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Huffer asked irately despite the terror he felt.

"It means Megatron gave you to us," Long Haul replied before pulling on the chord in order to get Huffer to follow him, "You now serve the Constructicons, and believe me when I say we can use all the help we can get!"

Huffer was forced to walk with Long Haul down the hallways of the Nemesis. Well, the good news was he wasn't going to be tortured. The bad news was that for the time being he would have to work for the very mechs that had harmed Brawn, and the one mech he was supposed to assassinate. _Terrific_.

They didn't pass anyone else on the way to the Constructicons' collection of labs, which Huffer was very grateful for. It was humiliating to be led around like a criminal going to trial or an animal on a leash. They stopped in what could only be described as a waiting room. It was a small area with chairs, but it led to six different rooms. Each of those rooms was a lab, and each lab connected to a berth room for a Constructicon.

"Scavenger gets you first," Long Haul informed him, "We drew straws. Scavenger says he wants your help organizing things. Oh, and he also says the cuffs stay on for his shift. Apparently he doesn't trust you."

" _What_!? How am I supposed to do anything with these slagging _things_ on my wrists?" Huffer snapped indignantly.

"How should I know? It ain't my problem," Long Haul shrugged, "Anyway, Scavenger lives in the room 3rd from the left. He has a lab, but it's mostly filled with junk. I don't know how he gets anything done. Well, see you when it's my turn, Autobot."

With those words Long Haul went into his lab, the one furthest on the right, and left Huffer alone in the waiting room. He wasn't alone long, however, as Scavenger soon opened the door to let him in. Huffer assumed that the stupid overgrown shovel had been listening in on their conversation the whole time. _Figures_.

* * *

The day was almost gone and the Autobots still hadn't come to rescue Huffer yet. He wondered if they were having difficulties, if they were trying to negotiate with Megatron, or if they just wrote him off as dead and went on with their lives. He didn't really think it was the last one, but who knew at this point?

Working with Scavenger had been exhausting. Mostly Huffer's job was just to grab things when Scavenger told him to. He hauled rocks, he lifted things up to Scavenger so the Constructicon could nail them to the wall or ceiling, and he grouped different items into categories so Scavenger could put them in the correct boxes. In short, it was a boring, tedious, backbreaking, thankless job. Then came the next shift.

This time Huffer was sent to work with Hook. Hook was an utter perfectionist, and nothing Huffer did was right for the uppity medic. Huffer cleaned the beakers and test tubes, but Hook complained that they were spotty. Huffer mopped energon off the floor from patients, but Hook complained that the floor was wet.

 _Gee, wet underwater. Wonder how_ that _happened?_ Huffer thought sarcastically.

The real problem came when Huffer tried to move a box of medical equipment for Hook, but because he was still trapped in stasis cuffs he accidentally dropped everything, and some very valuable sensors were broken.

Hook saw the mess, and all the parts that would take deca-cycles to replace, and proceeded to beat Huffer to within an inch of his life! Huffer was defenseless against the much larger mech since his subspace was closed and his servos were cuffed. Hook continued punching and kicking until Huffer was almost in stasis lock, and then started repairing the worst of the damage. It was a surreal experience on top of a terrifying one.

Huffer was allowed to return to his cell after that, but was promised a fun-filled day with Scrapper and Bonecrusher when he woke up. Then the day after that was Mixmaster and Long Haul. Huffer really hoped the Autobots showed up soon so he could get the slag out of this nightmare.

The door to his cell opened, and Huffer cringed when he saw it was Long Haul. He was already in pain and exhausted. He didn't want to have to deal with that mech; not now.

"Hey Autobot, I heard Hook really lit into you tonight," Long Haul said casually as he took his seat in front of the cell.

"Yeah, and all this time I thought Ratchet was scary!" Huffer exclaimed with a wince, "I will never take that wrench throwin' maniac for granted again."

"Your medic throws _wrenches_ at his patients?" Long Haul asked incredulously, "Yikes! I'll never complain about Hook again."

Long Haul then chuckled, and Huffer couldn't help but smirk at the comparison. The humans had a saying about this sort of sentiment; the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

"If I coulda just had my servos free I wouldn't have dropped that stupid box!" Huffer groused irritably, "That Hook is a real pain in the aft!"

"I know, but he's family," Long Haul shrugged, "You got any family, Autobot?"

"No," Huffer replied without inflection, "I used to have a younger brother, and an uncle. I was too young to remember my parents, and my uncle died when I was still a teenager. My brother Winge was all I had for a long time. Then the war happened. He didn't last long. He was a civilian, but he loved to run his mouth. He got into a fight with a Minicon, but when things turned physical he found out that Minicon had 8 siblings and a carrier host. He never stood a chance. I'm just glad I wasn't actually there to see it. I was off-world by then."

"That's rough," Long Haul replied; unsure of how to react to such a matter-of-fact retelling of a tragedy, "If someone did that to one of us Constructions, you can bet the rest of us would rip him apart!"

Huffer just sighed, knowing that was probably true, and knowing it would probably happen to him if he fulfilled his mission to kill Long Haul. He had put it in the back of his processor for a long time, but the Decepticons had killed his brother. They had killed a lot of mechs and femmes that had been important to him. Brawn might be next, and here he was telling his life story to one of those murderers. Somehow it just didn't seem right.

* * *

The next day's chores were just as bad as the first day. His first shift was with Scrapper, the right leg and yet somehow leader of the Constructicons. Huffer had always wondered how that worked. With most gestalts the leader was the helm, but in their group Hook was the helm and Scrapper was just a lousy leg.

Scrapper unlocked Huffer's cuffs, and Huffer rubbed his wrists to get the energon flowing back into his servos. Huffer had expected that Scrapper would want him to lift more heavy boxes or scrub the walls or some scrap like that. What he asked for, however, completely floored him.

"Grab that polish over there," Scrapped ordered as he lazily gestured to a counter, "I want you to clean and polish my frame."

" _What_!?" Huffer shrieked reflexively, "Listen pal, you have wash racks! You don't need me givin' you a sponge bath like I'm some kinda nurse or somethin'! Forget it!"

"Fine, I'll just kill you," Scrapper replied nonchalantly, "It's no paint off my nose if you die."

Scrapper illustrated his point by digging a gun out of his subspace and pointing it at Huffer for emphasis. Huffer screamed for him to stop and then conceded to Scrapper's demands. He agreed to polish Scrapper, and the grungy mech put away his weapon. Huffer sighed miserably. He really didn't want to touch that guy. Scrapper was filthy from working outside in earth's dust and mud. Then again, that was probably why Scrapper was asking for this special treatment in the first place.

Huffer got Scrapper to sit down in a chair and began by scrubbing the majority of the dirt off with a scrub brush. Scrapper slumped over and relaxed as Huffer worked, which somehow made this feel even worse for the minibot. It was bad enough he had to work for Decepticons, but he didn't want the slaggers to feel comfortable while he was doing it! Huffer had to distract himself from this degradation, so he decided to start a conversation with the surly leader of the Constructicons.

"Yo Scrapper, there's somethin' I've always wondered about," Huffer said as casually as he could manage while brushing dirt out of the guy's treads, "How come Hook is Devastator's helm? Shouldn't that be your job?"

"You know being a gestalt makes the resulting mech stupid, right?" Scrapper pointed out, and Huffer nodded, "Well, imagine how much stupider we'd be if I was the helm."

"But you're not stupid," Huffer replied before he could stop himself.

"Not right now, but as Devastator I would be," Scrapper explained, "Hook is the smartest of the six of us, therefore Devastator is slightly less brain dead when he's the helm."

"Oh," Huffer nodded as he wiped away the brush marks with a rag, "So why did you pick the right leg?"

"I didn't," Scrapper replied, "Shockwave designated our positions when he upgraded us. That whole Hook being the smartest thing? We were all specifically tested so we would know that."

"Oh, so uh...does Shockwave hate Long Haul or somethin'?" Huffer suddenly asked.

"No, why?" Scrapper asked.

"Because he's Devastator's crotch!" Huffer exclaimed as if it should be obvious, "Why would Shockwave do that to him?"

"Because he tested as having the worst servo-optic coordination," Scrapper informed him, "Or to put that in terms your puny Autobot processor can compute, he's slow. Shockwave wasn't even gonna use him, but we insisted. The six of us were all that was left of our combat unit after the Autobots attacked us. I wasn't about to leave him behind, even if he wasn't our best fighter. Honestly, Long Haul isn't really cut out to be a warrior. If it wasn't for us and for Devastator I don't think he woulda lasted this long. Hey, don't forget to wax the undercarriage."

Huffer sighed again but did as he was told. He almost felt bad for Long Haul now. The guy was the worst one of his team and was punished by becoming the body part that had no control over anything yet had to hold everyone else together. Not to mention being the obsolete piece of the puzzle. Once Long Haul died no one would take his place because no one built gestalts like that anymore.

* * *

Huffer's shift with Bonecrusher was tedious but bearable. He mostly just swept the floor and vacuumed dust from under furniture. Huffer had expected a mech with a name like Bonecrusher to be a battle-hungry monster, but Bonecrusher was actually just a normal mech that was very busy.

Bonecrusher had locked Huffer in his lab to do his assigned chores and had then left him alone for most of his shift. Bonecrusher had inventory duty around the rest of the ship and didn't have time to monitor Huffer. Huffer used this opportunity to look for items he could use against the Decepticons.

He opened drawers and cabinets, checked for secret panels in the walls, and even searched under the desk in case there was a gun taped to the underside or something. He didn't find any weaponry, but he did find one thing that might help him: acid. Huffer didn't have his subspace, so he wedged the bottle of corrosive acid in between his back struts and his orange hood. When the time came he would use this stuff to expose Long Haul's spark and then let the elements do the rest. It would be grisly, but Huffer had a job to do, and he would do it even if it killed him.

* * *

The next day he was sent to work with Mixmaster. Huffer didn't know what to expect, but was still surprised when Mixmaster told Huffer they were going to another location somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Huffer and Mixmaster rode inside a small hovering pod to the site, and Huffer was surprised to find it was dark outside and the stars were shining in the sky. Apparently he had been waking up at night.

For a while they rode in silence. Mixmaster had a reputation for being unstable and a bit of a sadist. To be fair, over half the Decepticon ranks could be described that way, but Mixmaster was the only Constructicon with such a reputation. Therefore Huffer wasn't exactly eager to talk to him. As the minutes ticked by in boring silence, however, Huffer found he had to say something.

"So where are we goin' exactly?" Huffer finally got up the nerve to ask.

"We're go-go-going to work on the the the new base for the Stunticons," Mixmaster stuttered, "Mega-Megatron finally said we could g-g-get them out of the N-Nemesis."

"I can see why you'd want this project done as quickly as possibly," Huffer said wryly, "So what's my job?"

"B-B-Building, you idiot!" Mixmaster snapped, "Just st-stay out of my way when I'm w-w-w-working!"

"Yes, _sir_ ," Huffer replied sarcastically.

Mixmaster growled and glared at Huffer, and Huffer quickly clamped his servos over his mouth. This was going to be a long orn. Once he was finished with Mixmaster, however, he would move on to Long Haul and finally have his chance to attack.


	5. The Gift of Friendship

_Author's Notes: Back by surprisingly popular demand is the final chapter of "The Sixth Component". In keeping with tradition, this chapter is a long one. In fact, it may be one of my longest chapters yet. This was necessary though to make sure the pacing wasn't too rushed. Truth be told, I probably could've done more, but this fic was never meant to be a long one. So once again I say goodbye to a fanfic project, which is both a happy and bittersweet moment. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I also hope you will review this final chapter :)_

* * *

Chapter 5

The Gift of Friendship

Huffer didn't recharge a wink after coming back from his building assignment with Mixmaster. Long Haul was going to be the next Constructicon he was assigned to work for, and he was anxious about what he had to do. Huffer had the acid bottle neatly tucked away in his frame and would be ready to strike when next his cuffs were removed. He hated that Long Haul would have to suffer, but it was the only way to get rid of Devastator once and for all. It was for the good of the universe.

Huffer sat on his cot and thought all night. He thought about his friends on the Ark, his tormentors on the Nemesis, and his mission. He also wondered how Brawn was holding up, and wondered if anyone was even trying to rescue him. These thoughts weren't new, but he just couldn't seem to focus on anything else.

Finally, after several hours of getting lost in his own processor, Long Haul finally showed up to his cell to unlock his bonds and take him for his shift. Huffer wondered what sort of demeaning tasks Long Haul would force him to do, and then remembered that it didn't matter since he wouldn't have long to enjoy Huffer's services anyway.

 _Frag it. I sound like a Decepticon!_ Huffer thought bitterly. _Oh well, if this is what it takes..._

Long Haul didn't say anything as he led Huffer down the now familiar path to the Constructicons' labs. That was unusual, since Long Haul liked to talk. Huffer didn't break the silence either however, because that just made his job easier.

Finally they made it to the labs, but instead of going into Long Haul's office they instead opened the door to Scrapper's, where it was impossible to see inside due to the lights being out.

"Hey wait a breem! What's goin' on?" Huffer asked accusingly.

"Well Huffer, you've been doing great as a servant, but we Constructicons just don't think you're cut out to be our slave anymore," Long Haul said cryptically, "So, we've decided your fate, and now you're gonna come face to face with your destiny."

Huffer gasped when Long Haul pushed him into the dark room and then followed after him. The door shut, and Huffer was surrounded by pitch blackness. He was terrified of what Long Haul was going to do to him when suddenly the lights flashed on and temporarily blinded the poor minibot.

" _Surprise_!" The entire group of Constructicons shouted at once.

"What the-? Wha?" Huffer stammered as he looked around the room.

The Constructicons were surrounding Huffer and all seemed to be smiling (it was hard to tell with those who wore face masks). There were hundreds of tiny balloons floating on the ceiling, and stacks of high grade energon on a buffet table. The banner hung across the room read 'Welcome Huffer'. Now the minibot was _really_ confused.

"Congratulations Huffer!" Long Haul cheered as he slapped the little Autobot on his back/hardtop, "We all took a vote, and we decided you're ready!"

"Ready? Ready for what?" Huffer asked nervously.

"Ready to become a Constructicon," Scrapper answered in a jovial tone of voice, "I know we gave you a hard time, but we had to test your work ethic. Now that we know you're industrious and have a high level of endurance, we've convinced Megatron to allow you to become a Decepticon."

"Oh, really?" Huffer asked; trying not to look suspicious as he tucked the acid bottle further into his hardtop with his elbow, "That's, uh...great!"

"You can thank Long Haul for this one," Bonecrusher informed him, "Personally I don't see what's so special about you, but Long Haul said more Constructicons are better. I guess I can agree with that. Our numbers give us a lot of power with the Decepticons, and adding to that can't be a bad thing."

"I've got the paint!" Mixmaster suddenly shouted gleefully as he ran in front of all of them with two large barrels in his arms, "Y-Y-You're gonna look fabulous!"

"Paint? What's with the paint?" Huffer asked; not liking where this was going.

"Relax, pal," Long Haul replied encouragingly, "We're gonna paint you green and purple, the official colors of the Constructicons. I know you can't combine with us, but this is still an important first step for you to be accepted by the other Decepticons. At first I thought you were just trying to hurt us, but now I see the truth. The Autobots took you for granted, pushed into an assignment you weren't ready for, and then abandoned you when things got tough. Well don't worry pal, you'll never be alone again. After the party I got you a gift. You're gonna love it!"

"Can I work the spray-paint gun? Can I? Can I?" Scavenger pleaded with Mixmaster.

"No! That's my my my job!" Mixmaster snapped as he snatched the spray gun away from the eager excavator.

Huffer was cornered. He considered throwing the acid at all of them and making a run for it, but that would never work. There wasn't enough acid to incapacitate all of them, and he would just get captured by the other Decepticons anyway. He couldn't refuse the paint because it was a gesture of goodwill, and until further notice he was still undercover. Huffer had to see this through.

Huffer shuttered his optics in preparation of Mixmaster spraying the paint, but before that happened Bonecrusher came by with a belt sander and pressed down on his chassis! Huffer yelped in pain as his Autobot sigil was sanded down into nothing, and Scrapper held him in place so he couldn't escape the treatment.

When it was finished Huffer panted in relief, but it didn't last long as Mixmaster came at him with the paint gun. Huffer shuttered his optics again as he was doused in green and purple liquid. He only opened his optics again when he felt someone slap his chassis really hard, and looked down to see someone had pressed a Decepticon sigil into his freshly green painted chassis.

"It looks weird to have such a short Constructicon," Bonecrusher commented as he eyed their handiwork.

"Who cares? Huffer was built for this job," Long Haul insisted, "Don't worry pal, I'll show you the ropes. Oh, before I forget, here's your gift! Don't open it until you get back to your quarters."

"You mean my jail cell?" Huffer snidely remarked even as he held the thin box with the foil wrapping and red ribbon.

"Naw, we got you a better place," Scrapper informed him, "We're gonna build you your own lab once you select a field of interest, but until then you'll be stayin' in the room next to Reflector's. For some reason nobody wanted to be next door to them. Can't imagine why. They're quiet and unobtrusive."

"Gee, well, thanks," Huffer replied awkwardly, "This is...one of the most interestin' orns of my life."

"Hey, the party's not over yet!" Scavenger reminded them, "Let's all get cratered!"

Cheers of joy could be heard from the rest of the Constructicons, and Huffer was quickly led to the energon table to indulge in some high grade with the rest of the group. Huffer felt ashamed of looking like them and wearing the Decepticon logo, but at the same time it was almost touching how much trouble they went to for him. Long Haul especially seemed encouraging and supportive of Huffer, and that alone made Huffer feel like a real heel for what he was planning to do to him. How could he kill someone that treated him better than almost anyone else?

* * *

That night Huffer slept in a real berth for the first time in days. The room was big and kind of cold. It seemed like every room on the Nemesis was cold; likely due to being so far down in the ocean. Huffer looked down at his servos again, and then his green painted arm. He hadn't recognized himself in the mirror when the Constructicons were through with him. He really did look like a shorter version of them.

He turned over and then heard a slight clinking noise from inside his hardtop. Oh yeah, it was the little bottle of acid. Huffer tried to pull it out of his hardtop compartment, but the bottle got stuck. Huffer pulled and pulled in a vain effort to get the bottle out, but it wouldn't budge.

He finally gave it one more hard yank, and then instantly regretted it as boiling acid poured out from the broken bottle and all over Huffer's internals, back, chassis, and servo.

"YAAAHH!" Huffer yelled for all he was worth as he jumped out of the berth and ran out the door.

He knew he had mere moments before the acid ate through to his spark chamber. He had to get help immediately! He ran back to the Constructicons' area and into Hook's medbay. The medbay was empty since it was their night cycle, but fortunately Hook was still there rearranging various tools and medicines.

Huffer was still screaming when he ran into the room and hoisted himself onto an available berth. Hook ran up to him immediately and saw the acid and glass shards littering Huffer's body.

"What in the pit happened to you!?" Hook shouted in equal parts worry and anger.

"Later!" Huffer gasped as he held his corroding servo in a tight fist, "Help me!"

Hook set to work right away with removing the hardtop and cleaning the acid away using a special chemical he kept for such occasions. That part didn't take very long, and Huffer sighed in instant relief. Hook spent much more time picking out the little pieces of glass in Huffer's back and chassis, all the while trying to figure out how they got there in the first place.

"Huffer, where did you get corrosive acid?" Hook asked suspiciously as he continued to clean the wound.

"Uh, uh, I brought it from the Ark," Huffer lied, "Yeah, I keep it around in case I need to melt down somethin' while I'm workin'."

"Oh _really_?" Hook sneered, "Then where did this _sticker_ come from, _hm_?"

Hook held up a piece of glass with a partially torn purple sticker on it, and Huffer realized he'd been caught when he recognized the sticker as being of Decepticon origin.

"Alright, I admit it. I stole it from Bonecrusher," Huffer confessed, but hoping to escape the death penalty he added, "I thought you guys might execute me, so I kept the acid around in case I needed to break free of my handcuffs. I at least wanted the dignity of tryin' to get away if it came to that."

"I would hardly call that dignity," Hook scoffed haughtily, "I'm not pleased with you right now, but I suppose any one of us would have done the same. Besides, I would say being corroded by the very acid you stole is punishment enough. That being said, it's going to take a lot to keep me from going to Scrapper with this information."

"Guess I shoulda seen that comin'," Huffer sighed, "Alright Doc, name your price."

"You have to retrieve a scalpel Scavenger borrowed from me," Hook replied with a sinister smile on his face plate.

"That's it? No problem," Huffer replied confidently.

"Good. The scalpel has a blue handle and a blade designed to cut through large fuel lines," Hook explained, "Also the handle has a glyph on it that says Made In Kaon. I do believe they make the best cutting tools in Kaon. Of course with the gladiatorial arena being in Kaon, that's not exactly surprising. Good luck, little minicon."

Huffer hated being called a minicon, but he put up with it. After all, all he needed to do was keep up this charade until the Autobots rescued him. Problem was, how was he going to explain to them that he failed to kill Long Haul? Worse yet, how did he explain that Long Haul didn't deserve to die?

* * *

Huffer went to Scavenger's room and knocked three times. Scavenger was in deep recharge, so he didn't wake up. Huffer got annoyed standing in the doorway, so he tried the door to see if it was locked. Wonder of wonders, it was unlocked!

Huffer walked inside, or at least tried to, because immediately he bumped into a large wooden box. Huffer stopped and looked into the room, and his jaw dropped. Scavenger had piled up his quarters with wall to wall junk! There was stuff hanging from the walls and stuff cluttering the floor. There were boxes, old rusty parts, random earth items, random Cybertron items, random items from other worlds, and tucked away in the corner was a berth filled with stuff and just barely enough room for Scavenger to recharge. Huffer wondered how he slept like that without falling off the edge, and also how he navigated the room when there was only one narrow hallway.

 _No wonder Hook was so happy._ Huffer thought bitterly. _He is punishin' me! He wants me to get lost in here along with the rest of Scavenger's junk! Well I'll show him, I'll find that stupid scalpel and carve my name on his door._

Huffer barely fit in the hall Scavenger kept clear, which made Huffer wonder how a big guy like Scavenger navigated this limited space. He climbed over a box full of buckets with moss growing on it and landed on a stack of human-sized papers that nearly caused him to slip. Huffer grabbed the box for balance, and winced when he felt the stupid squishy moss between his digits.

He continued to search boxes, bags, and piles of stuff for the scalpel, but he couldn't find it no matter where he looked. He sighed longsufferingly, and Scavenger heard the noise and woke up!

"Huh? Whazzat? Oh, hey Huffer. What are you doing in my quarters?" Scavenger asked groggily as he tried to get his bearings.

"Hook wants his scalpel back and sent me to get it," Huffer explained; grateful for once it was the truth.

"I'm not surprised he sent you," Scavenger grumbled, "Nobody ever visits me in my quarters. Even Long Haul gets more visitors! Last year someone went to visit him, _once_ , and that's still more than me! Most mechs just go to my lab. So which scalpel did Hook want? I've borrowed several over the vorns."

"The blue one that was made in Kaon," Huffer told him.

"Oh yeah, that one," Scavenger nodded, "It's in that old energon cube on top of the chest of drawers where I keep every blade I've ever collected. I'm hoping to find enough time to use these blades to make a rock crusher that can also slice and dice scrap metal. Don't worry Huffer, I'll find it for you."

Scavenger then got off his berth in one graceful fluid motion and then walked through the trash piles like a mountain goat scaling a cliff. It looked impossible to Huffer, but Scavenger navigated like a pro; most likely because it was his home. He got to the drawers and sorted through the cube full of old sharp objects until he found the blade Huffer had been sent for. The scalpel was rusted and bent at an odd angle, and Huffer dreaded giving that ruined thing back to Hook.

"Here you go, little fella," Scavenger said cheerfully as he handed Huffer the scalpel, "Hey, as long as you're here, you wanna check out my candy wrapper collection? I've got candy wrappers from all over the planet!"

Huffer really, _really_ didn't want to stay in this junkyard any longer than necessary, but Scavenger looked so eager for a friend to talk to. Huffer hated himself for giving in so easily, but nonetheless he reluctantly sighed and nodded. Scavenger dumped a bunch of cans full of nails off of a chair and offered it to Huffer. Huffer sat down and prepared himself for a long night of pretending to be interested in Scavenger's collection of garbage.

* * *

The next day Megatron ordered the Constructicons to get to work on repairing the space bridge portal they kept in the Rocky Mountains. Huffer was allowed to go as well, but not before several Decepticons made jokes about the Constructicons' new pet Autobot. It really angered Huffer, but he didn't want to start a fight he couldn't win, so he let it go for the moment.

The seven mechs got on the small transport ship, and after a few breems everyone started coughing and holding their nose cones.

"Phew! Scavenger, you smell wor-wor-worse today!" Mixmaster exclaimed in disgust.

"It isn't merely Scavenger. I think Huffer forgot to shower," Hook commented.

"I didn't forget," Huffer smirked mischievously.

"What? You dirty turbo rat!" Bonecrusher shouted.

"Yeah, literally," Long Haul laughed, "Lemme guess, Hook sent you on an errand?"

"Yep," Huffer replied unapologetically, "It's a shame you couldn't join us Hook, Scavenger has the biggest collection of Rolo foil I've ever seen."

Scrapper, Long Haul, Bonecrusher and Mixmaster all laughed at that one, but Hook pouted due to the smell and Scavenger pouted because no one else wanted to see his candy wrapper collection. Huffer didn't really care about it either, but he didn't want to get on the excavator's bad side. Scavenger could be wily when he was upset, and the last thing Huffer needed was to be beaten to a pulp and added to that crazy mech's collection.

They arrived at the space bridge site and Scrapper immediately started giving orders. Huffer and Long Haul were the only ones not given a task right away since their job was to haul debris and there was none. This meant they were both leaning against the side of the ship so they could stay in the shade while awaiting orders.

"I heard you were in the medbay last night," Long Haul started the conversation after a few minutes of relaxed silence, "What happened? Did you drink too much energon at the party?"

"Nah, I just had an accident in my recharge," Huffer replied casually.

"I know what that's like," Long Haul replied sympathetically, "I used to wet the berth all the time when I was a sparkling and didn't really stop until I was 10 vorns old."

"Not that kind of accident!" Huffer snapped defensively, "I just, I spilled somethin'."

"What was it?" Long Haul asked curiously, and Huffer dreaded answering him.

"Well...I had some corrosive acid in my hardtop," Huffer told him, "It broke and I had to get to Hook before it ate through to my spark."

"Where did you get acid?" Long Haul asked, his full attention on Huffer now.

"I, uh, I brought it from the Ark and forgot about it," Huffer lied feebly, "You know how it is. When you build stuff sometimes tools and chemicals get misplaced, that's all."

"You don't work with chemicals, Huffer," Long Haul pointed out skeptically, "In fact, if I remember correctly you're just a laborer."

"Yeah, well..." Huffer was running out of excuses, and he finally trailed off without saying anything.

"You stole it from the Nemesis," Long Haul accused with sudden realization, "You were going to use that stuff against Megatron!"

" _Megatron_? No, I wasn't!" Huffer exclaimed in surprise, "I could never get close enough to Megatron for that kind of stunt! Besides, his armor is too thick."

"Then why did you take it, Huffer?" Long Haul growled as he looked over the minibot threateningly.

"I...I...I...was gonna use it on...you," Huffer admitted shamefully as he scrunched into himself awaiting whatever punishment was coming.

"Me?" Long Haul asked softly; shocked and hurt, "Why me? It is because I was the one that captured you?"

"No Long Haul, it's because I volunteered to do it," Huffer confessed; his voice subdued and his optics staring down at the ground, "I don't wanna do it anymore, but at the time I would've given anythin' to kill you and destroy Devastator forever. You guys have killed so many of my friends over the vorns. Brawn might die too, and I just couldn't let you get away with that. My brother was killed by Decepticons. My world was torn apart by you guys. I can see now that there's more to you than that, and that both sides of the war can have good people. It don't matter though. Even if I like you and a couple other 'Cons, well...you're still 'Cons. All I can think of when I think of you is evil."

Huffer was surprised Long Haul allowed him to speak for that long, but he knew that once he was done Long Haul would turn him in and they would kill him. He would die for nothing, and the strangest part was that he didn't know how to feel about that. What Long Haul said next though surprised him.

"I guess I get it," Long Haul shrugged, "When I think of the Decepticons I think of the group that has protected me and my rights for vorns. When I think of the Autobots I think of the caste system that kept me and my brothers down, and it infuriates me. We were the best architects and designers in all of Cybertron. Even back then our names were known to everyone in the construction community, yet we didn't have the same privileges and rights afforded to those that lived in the cities we built. It was like 'Yeah, thanks for forging Crystal City from the ground up, now go back to the gutter you crawled out from you scrap heaps'. I hated it, and when I see Optimus Prime and his merry morons it just reminds me of what life used to be like for us."

"Hey, I lived through the same slag you did, pal," Huffer reminded him, "I wasn't even considered as good as you. Just another construction worker that had to stand in line to collect energon rations that barely kept me goin'. I never really got into politics though. I called myself an Autobot, but that was just because everyone in Iacon was an Autobot back then."

"So are you willing to renounce the Autobots and stay with us?" Long Haul asked intently.

"Honestly?" Huffer asked, and Long Haul nodded, "No, I'm not. I know I give Optimus a hard time, but we go way back. He took me in when I had no one, and he gave me a job and a home. The other Autobots might be overly cheerful jerks, but they're my family the same way the other Constructicons are your family. I understand if you have to kill me now, but I just want you to know I'm sorry. Maybe if the war had never been and the world had been fair...maybe then we could've been friends."

"Huffer," Long Haul forced the minibot to look up at him before he declared, "We are friends."

"Even after all that?" Huffer asked skeptically.

"Yeah, even after all that," Long Haul smiled fraternally, "That being said, you can't stay here. Eventually they'll find out what you tried to do, and then you really will be killed."

"So what do I do about it?" Huffer asked.

"What else?" Long Haul replied conspiratorially, "Run."

Long Haul then surreptitiously left to join the other Constructicons, and Huffer figured out what Long Haul meant. He snuck inside the transport ship and locked the doors behind him. He had one chance to get away from the Decepticons, and he wasn't going to waste it. He got in the navigator's chair and started up the ship, and then took off for freedom.

The Constructicons looked up at their ship as it flew away, and Scrapper was the first to notice who was missing from their group.

"Hey, where's Huffer?" Scrapper asked, but then just as quickly answered himself by growling, "That thief! He's trying to go back to the Autobots! Get him!"

The Constructicons flew into the sky and gave chase to their ship. Long Haul joined his brothers in the hunt even though he was the only one that knew what Huffer was doing. He needed to keep suspicion away from himself, after all. What he did for Huffer could be considered treason by the Decepticon ranks.

Huffer saw on the sensors that the Constructicons were already after him, so he activated thrusters in the hopes of escaping. The energon burned through the engines with enough force to cause blue flames to burst forth and lick the sides of the ship. Huffer pressed down hard on the steering mechanism and took a deep intake to keep himself calm.

The Constructicons weren't the fastest fliers, but somehow they managed to keep up with the speedy ship. They started firing on the ship to take it down, and Huffer gasped as one of their shots hit the hull with enough force to send him flying out of his seat!

He quickly clamoured back into the large chair and frantically searched the control board for the weapons array. He found where the laser cannon control was and he fired rapidly at the Constructicons. He was trying to miss, but he also needed them to slow down so he could get away.

The Constructicons flew in separate directions to get away from the energy blasts, and Scrapper growled at the idea of the minibot getting the better of them. After several minutes of this useless dogfighting Scrapper had finally had enough.

"Constructicons!" Scrapper shouted with authority, "Merge to form Devastator!"

Huffer couldn't hear the command from inside the ship, but he could see the results on the sensors. Six little dots began to form one massive dot on his radar, and soon Huffer could actually see Devastator flying right toward him on the rear monitor! He was definitely going to die.

/Huffer to Autobot base! Come in Autobot base!/ Huffer shouted into his comm link; trying to sound calm, yet desperate for an answer.

Huffer received no response at first, and he had to maneuver the ship to keep Devastator's giant servo from swiping it out of the air like a fly. He tried to get away, but Devastator kept coming back for more.

/This is Autobot base,/ Prowl answered over the comm, /Huffer, are you undamaged?/

 _/Not for long!/_ Huffer screamed as he veered a hard left, /Devastator's on my bumper and I need air support _now_!/

/Send your coordinates and I will send help,/ Prowl replied professionally.

/Great. Make sure you send a clean-up crew as well in case all that's left of me is pieces,/ Huffer replied pessimistically.

The comm link was cut, and Huffer was left to dodge Devasator's every attack while hitting him with laser blasts that might as well have been water squirting from a leaky garden hose for all the damage it was doing. Devastator wasn't even winded, and Huffer was overheating the ship just trying to keep it out of the big green brute's clutches.

Huffer evaded the monstrous combiner for another 10 minutes, but then when they were over a gorge Devastator swatted at Huffer; sending his vessel careening into the chasm below!

The ship landed hard, and Huffer was knocked out for a few seconds. When he onlined his optics again Devastator was landing in front of his aircraft. Huffer knew what was coming next, so he scurried out of there before it was too late.

Just as Huffer ran out of the cockpit and into the open Devastator's pede slammed down onto the ship; crushing it! Huffer hid behind a boulder, but it was no use. Devastator found him and grabbed him in a big green fist. Huffer struggled, but it was to little avail as Devastator laughed evilly in his face plate.

"Alright, go on! Tear me apart!" Huffer challenged the giant without breaking optic contact, "I'm ready for you, ya big ugly pile of slag!"

Devastator squeezed tighter and laughed harder at the minibot's misplaced courage. Huffer could feel his systems overheating as his plating was crushed tighter in Devastator's grip. He groaned from the pain and struggled in vain to find relief. He knew he was a goner, but at least he would die like a mech.

"Autobots, attack!" A powerful baritone suddenly boomed around the chasm in an echo.

Huffer dared to look, and saw Optimus Prime and the other Autobots coming to save the day! They even had the forethought to bring Superion! Huffer sighed in relief, grateful that his friends really did care about him.

Devastator threw down Huffer and began to grapple with Superion. Huffer fell and was sure he would break when he hit the ground, but he was caught mid-air by Skyfire's wing and brought into the Valkyrie aircraft by Inferno and Red Alert.

"Thanks guys," Huffer moaned as he tried to maintain consciousness.

" _Thanks_? Wow Red, Huffer must be really hurt!" Inferno joked at the out of character moment.

"What did they do to his _paint job_?" Red Alert exclaimed worriedly, "He looks like one of _them_! Wait, Huffer, did you betray us!? Admit it, you joined them!"

Huffer just glared at him; knowing this would take too long to explain in the moment, and Inferno laughed even harder.

The battle lasted a few more minutes before Devastator separated into the Constructicons and together they retreated. They knew they were outnumbered, and Long Haul was secretly glad they were. He didn't want Huffer to be scrapped, even if he was still an Autobot.

* * *

Back on the Ark, Huffer recounted his story to the other Autobots that were gathered around Teletraan 1 with him. He mentioned being imprisoned, the compassion showed to him by Long Haul, and why he was currently covered in green and purple paint.

"That must've been terrifying," Bumblebee commented sympathetically.

"Sort of," Huffer shrugged; trying to seem macho about the ordeal, "I gotta tell you though Optimus, I don't think I could do it again. Long Haul doesn't deserve to die, even if he is a 'Con. I'm hopin' someday he and the other Constructicons will see that the Autobots can offer them more than the Decepticons can. Maybe someday."

"Hm," Optimus nodded sagely, "I couldn't agree more. If I had been available to consult before this mission, I would not have authorized it. Huffer and Bluestreak, I know you both wanted to help the Autobot cause, but this mission was too much to expect from either of you. Besides, Megatron is the real root of the problem, not Devastator."

"We just wanted to avenge you and Brawn," Bluestreak replied contritely, "You have to admit, he was hurt pretty badly."

"Speakin' of which, how is Brawn doin'?" Huffer asked in concern.

"Ratchet is still repairing him as we speak," Optimus replied; pleased to be the bearer of good news, "His spark is a strong one. Brawn will eventually make a full recovery."

"Whew! That's a load off," Huffer sighed in relief, "I gotta say, considerin' everythin' that went down, this didn't turn out too bad."

"Hey Huffer?" Bumblebee called out, "Um, you said that during the Constructicons' party Long Haul gave you a gift, but you never told us what it was. What was it?"

"Eh? Oh yeah, I've been so busy I forgot to open it," Huffer replied sheepishly as he pulled the thin foil package out of his subspace.

Huffer ripped away the wrapping and pulled off the bow to reveal a box. When he opened the box it revealed a data pad. Oh, great. A book. Well, that was disappointing.

"What does it say, Huffer?" Gears asked curiously.

Huffer turned on the data pad and began to read...

"It says: I Long Haul, bein' of complete processor and fully functionin' frame, hereby state my final wishes in the event of my termination," Huffer read, "Huh. It's a will."

"Keep going!" Gears egged him on.

"Alright already!" Huffer snapped, though not angrily, "To Scavenger I leave my rock collection. I know he always wanted it, and I'm pretty sure bein' buried with it or whatever would be tacky. To Scrapper I leave the blueprints to my frame so that my portion of Devastator can be rebuilt. To Shockwave I leave my frame's middle digits as well as a book on earth profanities so he'll know what that gesture means. I only wish I could tell him where to stick them. To Hook I leave my tools. To Mixmaster I leave my high grade. To Bonecrusher I leave my data pad collection as well as my back issues of Popular Mechanics. I know he loves readin' the articles as much as I did. I leave all of my credits, however few they may be, to the Decepticon's fund for retired veterans. Finally, to my friend Huffer, I leave my most prized possession. I leave him my... _oh_ , _scrap_!"

"What? What is it?" Bumblebee asked; his curiosity bubbling over.

"Finally, to my friend Huffer," Huffer read slowly and with dread, "I leave my most prized possession. I leave him my place as Devastator. In the event of my demise he shall henceforth be the central connection node to our gestalt unit. Scrapper will know what to do."

"You mean if Devastator dies...?" Bumblebee gasped in realization.

"You get turned into a crotch? Hahahaha!" Gears laughed until his struts hurt as he rolled on the floor.

"Shut up, Gears!" Huffer snapped irritably, "I don't know why I let you guys talk me into anythin'!"

 **The End**


End file.
